Teaching ideas

Musical Elements Song

By A Visitor
Age Range: 7 to 11
The concept of musical elements proved to be a tricky concept for the children in my class, so the music teacher made up this song to
help them. She taught each verse as they were learning about that aspect of music. By the end of the term the children knew the
complete song. They love singing the song and it helped them to talk about the music that they were composing themselves.
The words should be sung to the tune of Twinkle, twinkle little star.
Pitch means sound are high or low.
Tempo means go fast or slow.
Dynamics can go with a BANG!
Or make a sound as quietly as you can.
Pitch means sounds are high or low.
Tempo means go fast or slow.
Over and over and over again
Ostinato is the name.
Duration can be short or long
The length of sounds in a tune or a song.
Over and over and over again
Ostinato is the name.
Rhythm makes a pattern of sounds.
(Clap clap-clap clap clap/clap-clap clap claap)
Pulse will keep a steady beat
Sounds like slowly marching feet.
Rhythm makes a pattern of sounds.
(Clap clap-clap clap clap/clap-clap clap claap)
Timbre is quite hard to say.
Listen to the instruments play
Bright and bold, harsh or hollow.
Maybe gentle, warm or mellow.
Timbre is quite hard to say.
Listen to the instruments play.
(Words by Christine Brown)

Body Percussion
By Christine Hare
Age Range: 5 to 11
Explain to the children you are going to use different parts of their body to make music and pretend to be an orchestra.
Start with the head - bounce hand up and down and say "BOING, BOING"
Then add one sound each time, keeping the same order beginning again each time from the start.
Push finger onto nose and say "Honk, Honk"
Pull one ear lobe then the other and say "Ding, Dong"
Clap hands and say "Clap, Clap"
Tap knees and say "Tap, Tap"
Stamp feet and say "Stamp, Stamp"
If you are standing up - you can wiggle your bottom and say "wiggle, wiggle"
Put them all together and you have your own orchestra!

For a bit of extra fun, do it backwards, starting with the bottom/feet - it's quite tricky!

Hunt the Object

By Mark Warner
Age Range: 5 to 11
This is a very easy Music game which will reinforce the children's understanding of some of the musical elements.
Before you begin, you will need an object to hunt. This can be anything, as long as it is quite small (e.g. a coin).
1) Show the object to the children and give everyone a good chance to see what it looks like.
2) Choose one child to go outside of the room for a few seconds.
3) While they are outside (make sure that they cannot see back inside the classroom!), hide the object somewhere. Make sure the rest
of the class know where it is hidden.
4) Invite the child back in the classroom.
5) The rest of the class should make a Laa sound while the child is hunting. If the child is close to the object, the class should "Laa" at a
higher pitch. If the child is far away, the children should "Laa" at a lower pitch. By listening to the rest of the class, the hunter should be
able to find the hidden object (make sure the hunter knows this before he / she begins hunting!)
This activity can be repeated a number of times, and the children can vary their "Laa" sound according to pitch (high pitch=close, low
pitch=far away) and dynamics (loud=close, quiet=far away). They could also use instruments.

Body Percussion
By Christine Hare
Age Range: 5 to 11
Explain to the children you are going to use different parts of their body to make music and pretend to be an orchestra.
Start with the head - bounce hand up and down and say "BOING, BOING"
Then add one sound each time, keeping the same order beginning again each time from the start.
Push finger onto nose and say "Honk, Honk"
Pull one ear lobe then the other and say "Ding, Dong"
Clap hands and say "Clap, Clap"
Tap knees and say "Tap, Tap"
Stamp feet and say "Stamp, Stamp"
If you are standing up - you can wiggle your bottom and say "wiggle, wiggle"
Put them all together and you have your own orchestra!
For a bit of extra fun, do it backwards, starting with the bottom/feet - it's quite tricky!

Conductor
By Mark Warner
Age Range: 5 to 11
This activity gives the children the chance to control each other's sounds by making different signals.
1) Choose a person to be the conductor (you could be the conductor the first time to show the children what to do).

2) Explain that when you move your arm HIGH up in the air, you want them to make a "Laa" sound with a HIGH pitch. If you put your
arm down LOW, they should make a LOW-sounding "Laa". Also, indicate the signals for starting (e.g. "thumbs-up") and stopping (e.g.
flat hand facing them).
3) Begin, moving your arm up and down, and making slow and quick movements.
When you have finished, other children can be the conductor, and they can control the pitch of the "Laas" (high arm=high pitch, low
arm=low pitch) or the dynamics of them (high arm=loud, low arm=quiet).
Once the children are familiar with this activity, you could let the "orchestra" use instruments. You could also split them into groups of
similar instruments, with the conductor controlling the pitch / dynamics of each group when he moves near them.

The Rhythm Machine

By Peter P
Age Range: 5 to 11
I often had students play a game that I learned many years ago in school called "The Rhythm Machine."

Have your students sit in a circle.

One person starts the Rhythm Machine by doing a simple rhythm that repeats over and over.

I often start the Rhythm Machine with just a basic 4/4 quarter note beat.

The person sitting to the left of the starter then adds their own rhythm to go along with the rhythms that are already going. Again, the rhythm has
to repeat and can not change.

When everyone has added a rhythm, let the kids listen for a few measures.

The first person will then stop doing their rhythm. Again listen for a second or two, and then the second person drops out.

It continues until the last person is the only rhythm. Listen to the changes in sound and how one part can make a HUGE difference.

My students are string players so I often incorporate instruments. They can beat on them, pluck notes patterns etc, as long as it repeats
over and over.

Tea Coffee Tea Coffee

By Mark Warner
Age Range: 5 to 11
This is an excellent way of developing children's sense of rhythm. Instead of using difficult technical words like crochet and quaver, the
idea is to use words with different amounts of syllables, e.g. tea and coffee.
Introduction
Clap four beats slowly to the children, counting each beat, i.e. 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... Now, repeat the clapping, but replace the counting with
the word "Tea", i.e. Tea ... Tea ... Tea ... Tea...
Next clap eight beats (twice as fast as before), counting each beat again... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Then, replace each pair of beats with the
word coffee (saying each syllable separately), i.e. Coff, ee, Coff, ee, Coff, EE, Coff, EE
Split the class into two groups. One group can clap TEA and the other group can clap COFFEE (both groups perform at the same time,
i.e.

Group 1 claps and says... Tea

Tea

Tea

Tea

Group 2 claps and says... Coff EE Coff EE Coff EE Coff EE

When the children are comfortable with this, swap them around.
Now, as a whole class you can develop this idea, clapping and saying more complicated patterns together...

Tea Tea Coffee Coffee

Tea Coffee Tea Coffee
Tea Tea Tea Coffee
Coffee Coffee Coffee
(the children might also be able to come up with their own patterns)
When the children are familiar with this idea, they can be split into groups again, with each group clapping / saying a different pattern.
Grids
An easy way of writing down this notation is use grids (replacing Tea with the letter T and coffee with the letter C), i.e.

T C T C
C C T T
C T C T
T T C C
The class can follow this notation (reading from left to right and top to bottom). Then, try reading it in different directions (bottom to top,
right to left, diagonally!). Different groups can also perform different lines, and the children could also perform in rounds.
Developing the idea further...
When the children are happy with the Tea and Coffee activities above, you can use some new rhythms...
Cream So-da (the same as Tea, followed by Coffee) - also written as Cr Soda
Or-ange Squash (the same as Coffee, Tea) - also written as Or Sq
Co-ca Co-la (the same as Coffee, Coffee) - also written as CC
(the children might also be able to come up with their own drinks to use as rhythms).
Try the activities shown above using these new rhythms.
Listening to rhythms
This activity will develop the children's ability to listen carefully and to recognise these rhythms by sound alone. Give each child (or
group of children) a copy of the worksheet here. Then clap the following rhythm and ask them to write the rhythm that you clapped in
one of the grids on the sheet.

T C C T
C C C C
T T T T
C T C C
(remember that TC is also the rhythm for Cream Soda, CT is also the rhythm for Orange Squash and CC is also the rhythm for Coca
Cola - some children may have used different ways of writing the same rhythm)
When you have checked their answers, you can repeat the activity using different rhythms which you might have made up. You could
also ask the children to fill a grid with their own rhythm. Then, they can perform it to the rest of the class (who can write it down on one
of the grids on their worksheet).
Conventional Notation

This idea is also a good way of introducing children to more conventional notation. Explain that Tea can also be written as
crochet) and Coffee can also be written as

(called a

(called a quaver).

Now, try performing (as a class) the following grid...

Again (if the children are comfortable with this idea), the grid can be read in different directions and different groups of children can
perform different lines of the grid.
Composition
Children can compose their own rhythms using Tea and Coffee (or the more conventional notation if they are happy with it). When they
have created their rhythms, they might be able to change the pitch of the notes in their rhythms so that they make a melody. For
example, their Tea notes could all be played at one pitch, and the Coffee notes could be played at another.